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My eyes widen at the thought. “I would tell you there’s no way in hell I would let you do that!”
He stays silent, obviously wanting me to elaborate on my thoughts with more sincerity.
I feel sad for him just thinking that he could ever put himself back into that relationship. Lauren was horrible to him. “I would tell you that you are better than being with someone who would cheat on you. I would tell you how important you are to the people who love you, myself included. And I would tell you that you deserve to be someone’s priority, not just their option.”
The words coming out of my mouth sound like some pretty good advice I should probably take.
His eyes soften. “That’s exactly how I feel about you possibly taking Zac back. So, could you do me a favor and take your own advice? Please?” He cocks his head, a sly grin forming on his face.
Oh, he’s good. And he’s right. I know he’s right. I know that my entertaining the idea of Zac was dumb. I guess I was just missing home. That because he knew about my life back in California, and had met my mom, it was almost like he was a part of the family I was missing with my parents being gone. But, to be honest, he never respected that part of my life. The part of me losing my dad and caring for my mom when she was dying. He was never there for me, not the way Marc has been. Marc didn’t even know my parents, and I can see how much respect he has for me and my situation. Marc is more my family now than Zac ever was. My mom would’ve absolutely adored this friend of mine. And that makes me smile.
“Marc, I love you, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, me too, Logan. Me too.” He nudges his shoulder into mine.
Chapter 28
Eli
I’m on my second drink in the kitchen with Ali, and I’ve learned that she’s actually not as annoying as I’d initially thought. My brother hasn’t said much about this girl, but I think that she could be good for him. She’s confident and speaks what’s on her mind. Marc needs someone like that to challenge him, unlike Lauren. Lauren had the ‘damsel in distress’ thing going on, but Ali seems like she can handle her own.
Speaking of Marc, he and Logan have yet to come back from their talk outside. I’m about two minutes from ignoring Ali’s warning and going to find them. If Marc doesn’t talk some sense into Logan about texting with her ex, then I will. I don’t even know the guy or why they broke up, but I’m not too fond of the idea of her talking to anyone else.
From another room, a high-pitched voice calls out my name. I close my eyes, trying my best to ignore it while taking another sip of my beer.
Ali laughs at my obvious annoyance. “Who the hell was that?”
“Just some chick. Her name is Alyssa, and she’s annoying as fuck,” I tell her before downing the rest of my beer.
“Maddison! Come drink with us!” Ali chuckles as Alyssa’s squeal echoes from the other room.
“Come on.” Ali hands me another drink. “Let’s go get you even more buzzed and distract you from the fact that your brother is probably talking shit about you to your girlfriend right now in the backyard,” she says sarcastically, tugging on my arm to follow her towards the living room.
“Not funny.”
To be honest, it’s kind of nice to have someone who knows how I feel about Logan. I’ve been trying to hide it from Marc, and I’ve tried to deny it to myself as well, but now that’s it’s out in the open, even to just one person, it feels nice.
Once we reach the living room, I spot a group of people who I’m less than thrilled to hang out with. Standing around a table are Alyssa, Cam, Patrick and Lauren. I stop in my tracks before we reach them, and Ali loses her grip on my arm. Confused, she turns around to look at me, silently asking why I stopped walking.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” I whisper, trying to make myself small so no one from the table can spot me. But I’m 6’4” and Ali is as tiny as it gets, so I look like an idiot attempting to hide behind her.
“Why? What’s the big deal?” Before I can respond, she adds, “Stop being such a wuss,” and rolls her eyes. She continues to the table as I reluctantly follow behind.
“What’s up, Ali?” Cam asks with a little too much excitement in his voice as we approach the group.
“Hey,” she answers with much less enthusiasm. “Hey, Patrick,” she adds, turning to the guy I would like nothing more than to punch in the face right now. A few more drinks, and I just might.
He nods to greet her before his eyes dart to mine and quickly look away.
Good. Patrick better be afraid of me. I’m still pissed off about what he tried to pull last weekend with Logan. I haven’t said a word to him since, and I don’t plan on changing that tonight.
The six of us silently stand around the table before I realize that the girls don’t know each other yet.
“Ali, this is Alyssa and Lauren.” I point in their direction. “Girls, this is Marc’s friend, Ali.”
Lauren shoots Ali a dirty look, but I don’t think Ali catches on or knows who she is. This will be a fun dynamic to watch. I laugh aloud at my internal dialogue as Lauren shoots me the same dirty glare.
A flash of dark red hair catches my eye, and I glance up to see Marc and Logan walking towards the table. Finally. Making eye contact with her for the first time tonight, the stillness she brings me just by entering the room settles me. I can’t help but smile, seeing her here, in the same way that I can’t keep my eyes off of her. There’s no way that Marc won’t notice how I’m staring at Logan, though I’m starting to care less and less if he does. She returns the same enthusiastic grin, her dimples evident from here, until she looks down at my side and her face suddenly falls. Following her eyes with mine, I realize that Alyssa has her hand in my back pocket, and her arm snaked around my waist. She’s clinging onto me with her chest pressed up against my side while giving Logan an evil territorial stare.
